


Message Receive Failure

by Natsume Gekka (athenianAcolyte)



Series: Bitter>>Sweet [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Acceptance, Homophobia, M/M, Minor Tanaka Saeko/Tsukishima Akiteru, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:08:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26663437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athenianAcolyte/pseuds/Natsume%20Gekka
Summary: Akiteru thought he knew everything there is to know about his younger brother. But Kei throws everything in question when he starts bringing over a certain friend a little too often...Tsukihina Week Day 6: Domestic / Wedding /Outsider Perspective
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Bitter>>Sweet [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940044
Kudos: 110
Collections: TsukiHina week 2020!





	Message Receive Failure

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the works I've been sitting on for a while. I finally learned about making a series, so this is actually part two of the loose trilogy I have going on. Once again, it's intended that it can be read without reading the other two parts, but might help enjoyment.
> 
> Mind the tags; the homophobia depicted isn't extreme, but might be upsetting.

Akiteru thought he knew all there was to know about his little brother. Like how Kei’s prickliness hides the fact that he’s actually a sweet boy deep down. Okay, deep,  _ deep  _ down, but it’s still there! He just keeps it hidden underneath layers of sarcasm and aloofness. To say that Kei isn’t a people person would be the understatement of the century.

Therefore it was only natural that Akiteru would stare at the pair of unfamiliar shoes in the entryway. They were too small to be Tadashi’s, but the shoes undoubtedly belonged to a teenage boy. So that immediately ruled out anyone his mother knew. Still, that left the possibility that the shoes belonged to someone that Kei brought over.

Kei having anyone over, much less someone who  _ isn’t _ Tadashi, is like a heat wave in the winter. Not completely impossible, but there’s got to be something strange going on with the world for it to happen.

Akiteru knew he had to investigate.

“Mom! I’m home!” he called out as he entered the kitchen.

“Welcome home!” his mother cheerfully responded.

Akiteru gestured in the direction of the entry, confusion etched on his face.

“Do we have a guest?”

“That would be Shoyo!” his mother exclaimed, a delighted grin on her face. 

“Kei has been bringing him over a lot recently. He says it’s to help him study, but I think it may have something to do with Tadashi getting a girlfriend. He was probably getting a little lonely without a friend to hang out with” she said with a laugh.

“I don’t know what I’m more surprised over - Kei having a friend to bring over, or Tadashi getting a girlfriend.”

“Are you really surprised Tadashi got a girlfriend before him? Kei has been scaring away girls since kindergarten at least!” his mother responded with a laugh.

It’s a jarring reminder that despite their mother’s sweet appearance, Kei inherited his bluntness from her. But Akiteru has to concede. He’s overheard the conversations between Tadashi and Kei. Tadashi might lament Kei’s popularity with the girls, but his unwillingness to entertain any of them has kept Akiteru’s brother solidly single. Kei may have the looks to reel potential girlfriends in, but he doesn’t have the personality to make them stay. Not that it seems to bother him...

“Akiteru, if you’re heading up, could you bring these snacks up to Kei’s room? He and Shoyo have been up there for quite a while and I’m honestly surprised Shoyo hasn’t come down to eat something already.”

Akiteru couldn’t help but be amused over the fact that this Shoyo has made himself comfortable enough to help himself to their pantry. He grabbed the tray of snacks to bring upstairs. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a Shoyo on Kei’s volleyball team? The short middle blocker with amazing jumps? Akiteru wondered if they’re one in the same. 

He raised a fist to knock on the door to Kei’s bedroom before it swung open suddenly. Akiteru found himself looking down at a familiar mess of orange hair. They both jumped away from each other with a screech. The tray of snacks went flying and Akiteru was stammering out an apology when Kei entered the scene. 

“Don’t worry about it, nii-chan. He’s like an insect. Buzzes around all over the place and easily gets underfoot.”

The boy squawked indignantly.

“Just who are you calling a bug?”

“Who do you think? Certainly not my own brother.”

“Stupidshima!”

“I’d be careful of who you call stupid here...”

“R-right, because there’s two Tsukishimas!” Akiteru interrupted. He knows how nasty Kei’s teasing can get. Akiteru would like his brother to actually keep the new friends he’s made, thank you very much.

“I’m Akiteru, by the way.”

“Hinata Shoyo,” the boy replied, “It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“More like ‘finally meet you.’ I’ve seen you at several at Kei’s games already. You’re quite the volleyball star, aren’t you?”

Shoyo’s eyes grew wide with pride. A large grin erupted across his face at the praise. He opened his mouth to say something, but was quickly stopped by Kei planting a hand on the top of his head.

“Okay, that’s enough. Your ego doesn’t need anymore inflating. Time to get back to studying,” Kei said. The boy pouted and made a comment about studying for hours, but slunk back into the bedroom nonetheless. 

“Nii-chan, could you please clean up this mess? Mom won’t be happy if she finds any stains in the carpet.”

Kei closed the door to his room without waiting for Akiteru’s response. Akiteru stood alone in the hallway, forced to survey the scope of the mess. He’s disgruntled to discover that one of the two slices of cake have stuck to the wall. A blob of strawberry cream slid down slowly before it landed on the carpet with a loud plop. He grumbled under his breath as he went about cleaning up the spilled food.

“‘Oh no nii-chan, sorry about that! Here, let me help you!’ Ugh, when did Kei stop being so cute? Mom needs to stop spoiling him if he’s always this much of a brat.”

Akiteru made quick work of the mess. He surveyed his handiwork, proud that not a speck of cake can be seen on neither floor nor wall. He was about to head back downstairs when he heard Shoyo’s voice shout from inside Kei’s room. 

“He called me a volleyball star! Why don’t you ever compliment me like that?”

“I do, all the time.”

“In what world is ‘volleyball idiot’ a compliment?”

“Yours, it seems.”

Shoyo made a sputtering noise, followed by the sound of something coming down on a hard surface. Akiteru pictured the boy slammed his head on the table and had to suppress a giggle at the thought.

“Ugh, you two are nothing alike! How did you even get along growing up?”

“Bold of you to assume that we did. Now shut up and work on problem set number two.”

Akiteru smiled fondly. The bickering, to him at least, sounds like Kei was slowly but surely coming out of his shell.

* * *

It was winter vacation when Akiteru visited again. 

This time his mother wasn’t home when he arrived. He noticed, however, that Kei’s and Shoyo’s shoes were already present in the entryway. He raised an eyebrow at this. If this keeps up, Tadashi might have to watch out for his position as Kei’s best friend. 

He went upstairs to check on them. Not because he’s nosy, but to be a good host and make sure Kei hasn’t offended his friend. Yeah, that’s definitely it!

He knocked on the door before entering. Without waiting for an answer, he turns the doorknob. As Akiteru opened the door he heard a strange shuffling. He caught a glimpse of Shoyo and Kei shifting away from each other, their faces oddly flushed. This raised some suspicions, especially since Shoyo’s scarf looks oddly disheveled and the top buttons of his jacket were left unbuttoned.

“Hey there you two,” Akiteru began, “Isn’t it a bit hot in here?”

“Probably,” Kei said, making a show of tugging at his scarf.

“I’ll turn down the heater!” Shoyo declared, hopping out of his seat.

Akiteru eyed the closed books on the low table.

“What are you two studying?”

“Portuguese!”

“English.”

After a beat of silence, Kei clarified.

“We  _ were _ studying Portuguese, but we’re switching to English soon.”

“Portuguese? What for?”

“I’m going to Brazil after high school to learn beach volleyball,” Shoyo replied.

Akiteru could only describe the expression on Kei’s face as sour. But as soon as Shoyo settled back into his seat next to Kei, the look disappeared.

“Right. Well, I’ll leave you two to study then.”

Akiteru closed the door carefully. But instead of leaving, he pressed his ear against the door.

“Do you think he-?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Tsukishima, I don’t think we can keep this up anymore.”

_ ‘Keep what up?’ _ Akiteru wondered.

“We’re not going to have this conversation right now. Let’s get to actual studying…”

“Then when are we going to talk about it?!” Shoyo yelled. Akiteru nearly jumped out of his skin from the sudden outburst.

He heard Kei hiss something, presumably about being quieter. From that point on, the rest of the conversation was in angry, hushed whispers. Knowing he can’t listen in anymore, Akiteru walked away.

He wondered what’s going on between Kei and Shoyo. Was there something that he shouldn’t have seen? Maybe they were goofing off and he caught them when they were supposed to be studying. 

It came across as a weak excuse to him, but he decided that it’s better to leave the matter as is. He’s snooped enough and it left him feeling like he stumbled across something he shouldn’t have.

* * *

In hindsight, it was obvious they weren’t really studying. If Akiteru had been a bit nosier, he might have figured it out earlier. He did think that last incident was kind of strange. But he had easily accepted Kei’s excuse and written off everything else.

He can’t believe he fell for it.

Akiteru had gone up to check on them and bring them snacks at his mother’s behest. 

“They’ve been up there for hours and I haven’t heard them leave once! I’m starting to wonder if they really are studying,” she said.

Well, she was right. Akiteru stood frozen in the doorway. The textbooks on the table were once again unopened. Akiteru belatedly realized that they were placed there for show. Kei and his friend, however, laid on the bed with arms wrapped around each other.

Akiteru’s cheeks flushed at the intimate sight.

“Let go, Kei,” Shoyo’s sleepy voice whined, “I need to actually study now.”

“Five more minutes,” Kei mumbled, arms tightening around the other boy.

“You’ve said that for the last half hour! I need to actually learn Portuguese if I’m going to Brazil.”

“Just stay here a bit longer,” Kei responded. He squeezed his arms to bring Shoyo closer to his torso, as if he never wanted to let him go.

Shoyo wiggled up to press a kiss to Kei’s lips. 

“We can’t stay in bed forever,” Shoyo said. As Shoyo struggled out of Kei’s grasp, Akiteru’s eyes met with Kei’s.

It felt like time slowed down to that single moment. He watched as Kei’s eyes widened, sleep fleeing almost instantaneously. He released his hold on Shoyo. His arms flew back against the wall, as if bracing for something. 

Fear was always a strange look on Kei’s; it doesn’t belong there. The whole situation felt familiarly twisted. 

Akiteru quietly closed the door behind him. He brought the tray down, ignoring his mother’s questions as to why he didn’t leave snacks in Kei’s room. Upstairs, there’s shouting. Then half an hour later, Shoyo left quickly and with hardly a word. 

“Are things okay between you two?” their mother asked Kei over dinner. “Sounds like you and Shoyo had a yelling match up there.”

“It’s nothing. Just a disagreement over homework” Kei replied curtly.

Their mother gave Kei a disappointed look. When he refused to acknowledge her, she sighed dramatically.

“And I had made enough for Shoyo to eat too!”

Akiteru was silent throughout all of dinner. He was too afraid that if he opened his mouth, everything would come spilling out. It helped - but also hurt - that Kei didn’t speak to him at all. Seeing the door to Kei’s room closed with music blaring loudly inside, Akiteru can’t help but feel like things have irrevocably changed, and not for the better.

Akiteru, not for the first time, wondered what would be the right thing to do. 

\---

He recalled a time long ago when Kei wasn’t even old enough to start school yet. It was a rare family outing. Akiteru had forgotten what the occasion was; it was far more memorable that their father had joined them. All he remembered of that day was going to the park and getting ice cream. And, of course, what came after. 

There were two boys sitting on a bench next to each other. Nothing seemed off about them. He just thought they were a bit too old to still be holding hands. Yet the group of boys around them seemed to have other thoughts on the matter. They were using words that Akiteru didn’t understand. He would learn, much later, that they were using slurs.

Their mother gasped and turned away, trying to distract Akiteru and Kei from the sight. Their father, however, kept his eyes on the scene. His jaw was clenched, the same way it is whenever he was mad that Akiteru or Kei broke something. He went over to the group and stood behind them menacingly. It only took one look at him to make them run away. Akiteru didn’t need to see his father’s face to know what kind of expression the boys were subjected to. 

The boys on the bench looked relieved and grateful for Akiteru’s father’s intervention. One of them opened their mouth to say something, but the elder Tsukishima seemed to beat them to the punch. He watched as the expressions disappeared from the boys’ faces, replaced with hurt and shame. 

Then Akiteru’s father turned on his heels and returned to the family. 

“It’s getting late. Let’s go home,” is all he said.

Akiteru turned his head to look at the boys. They still sat there, but one of them was crying. The other had his head down. Akiteru looked away, squeezing Kei’s little hand as tight as his brother allowed. 

The rest of the walk to the train station was in silence. It wasn’t until they’re on the train and Kei is nearly nodding off to sleep that their father finally said something.

“Promise me you two will never be like that.”

Akiteru had thought his father’s message was clear. But perhaps Kei received a different message that day.

* * *

The next time Akiteru returned home, it’s unannounced. He barely had his shoes off when he heard the argument.

“Your Portuguese is terrible! Why don’t you just give up?”

“Because I need to learn the language to live in Brazil! And why don’t you give me feedback instead of telling me I suck all the time?”

The voices came from the kitchen. Akiteru figured he could sneak from the entryway to the staircase without being noticed if he was careful. He crept away slowly as the fighting continued.

“I don’t know where to begin with you!”

“Well start somewhere! You always seem to have something to say about everything I do!”

“I don’t know! Maybe your grammar, your inability to ask questions, the way you talk making it impossible to communicate…” 

“What’s this really about?” Shoyo interrupts. “Because I’m getting the feeling it’s not really about Portuguese.”

Akiteru froze at the sudden silence. He worries that they’ve stopped because they’ve spotted him. But just as he’s ready to give himself up, Kei broke the quiet.

“Maybe I don’t want you to leave, have you thought about that?” Kei shouted.

“You knew I was going to leave for almost a year! So why now?”

Akiteru’s blood curdled at the higher-pitched voice screaming at his brother.

“Maybe because it’s coming up fast and it doesn’t seem like you’re all that prepared for it!”

“I’ve been doing everything I can to prepare for this. I’ve taken lessons for Portuguese, I started studying about Brazil, and this is all on top of school! And for some reason, that doesn’t seem to be enough for you!”

“That’s not what I meant.” 

Kei’s voice came out quietly and somberly. It made him sound so small. Akiteru’s heart broke at the sound of it.

“Did you think I’d change my mind when we got together?”

Akiteru couldn’t hear Kei’s response, but there’s something about his voice that sounded uncertain. By the time Akiteru made it up the stairs, their fight had ebbed down to quiet murmurs. He debated hiding in his room or listening to the rest of the conversation from the landing. The decision is soon made for him.

“What was the point of us being together then if it was always going to end like this?” a voice shouts.

He heard the sound of running from the kitchen down the hallway. Shoyo made a ruckus while putting on his shoes. It sounded like he was throwing his things. After much fuss, Shoyo finally left, slamming the door shut after himself.

Akiteru went to his old room and sat in the chair by his desk. His pulse was racing, as if still in fear of being caught. As he tried to calm himself down, he heard the door to his room creak. 

He looked up to see Kei staring at him. His face was streaked with tears, but what was more alarming was the look of angry resignation on his brother’s face. Akiteru couldn’t say anything, even as Kei stalked away and slammed the door to his bedroom.

* * *

Kei didn’t actually talk to him about it until a few weeks before his high school graduation. 

He caught Akiteru by surprise by appearing in his open doorway like a ghost. 

“Kei! You scared me!”

“...”

Akiteru immediately recognized the face Kei was making as the ‘I want to talk but I can’t bring myself to ask’ face. So with a smile, he patted a spot on his bed which Kei obediently sat down on as Akiteru closed the door.

Kei sat there silently for a few moments. Akiteru waited patiently all the same. 

“How do you know if you’ve made a big mistake?”

“You might want to be more specific…” Akiteru replied half-jokingly.

“Shoyo is leaving for Brazil very soon.”

A pause.

“We kind of ended things on a bad note. I suppose you know about that though. You were there for it… I guess now would be the time to say that Shoyo is…  _ was  _ my boyfriend.”

Akiteru swallowed. This wasn’t a conversation he was looking forward to, but one he knew would have to happen eventually. Did he ever suspect anything about his little brother? It would’ve been easy to say no up until the incident. After that day, Akiteru had been forced to view some of Kei’s idiosyncrasies through a new lens. The annoyed expression whenever Tadashi mentioned Kei’s female suitors. The lack of friends he had growing up. Hell, Akiteru had begun to question Kei’s relationship with Tadashi.

It may have always been there. But Akiteru would rather believe that his thing with Shoyo was just an anomaly. It’s easier to believe nothing was out of the ordinary with Kei until Shoyo came along. There’s no other way for him to accept it.

“Perhaps it’s better to leave things as they are.”

Kei raised his head in disbelief.

Akiteru had always been a romantic. He loved those cheesy romcoms with star-crossed lovers overcoming insurmountable odds. He was always on the edge of his seat when climatic moment occurs, where it seems one half of the couple is about to make a huge life decision. And just when the girl - because it’s almost always a girl - is about to board her plane, the boyfriend shows up to confess that he was wrong and that he does love her. 

But life isn’t a Hollywood movie. It won’t do Kei any good to get his hopes up. And for what? A dead end relationship that won’t even end in marriage? It’s better to heal from it now and pursue a normal relationship than to flounder in… whatever  _ that  _ was.

“I don’t know much about your relationship with Shoyo. But from what I heard, it sounds like he made a choice that prioritizes himself.”

Kei gave a dry laugh at that.

“That sounds about right. A selfish idiot who charges headfirst into everything.”

The hitch in Kei’s voice didn’t go unnoticed. Akiteru got up to sit on the space in the bed next to Kei. 

“Maybe what he’s doing is the best for both of you.”

“Oh yeah? How’s that?” Kei spat bitterly.

“Think about it; you’re going off to college. No matter what, you two would have been separated. Maybe this distance will be good for the healing. And who knows? Maybe when he comes back, you two can go back to being friends. You two were friends before, right?”

“Hardly.”

“Well, just think of this as a chance to reset. You’re both going to have new starts soon, so you might as well try to go back to normal until then.”

Kei nodded, but it looked like the words weren’t actually getting through to him. It’s not like his brother to cry, but Akiteru would never tell a soul if Kei sobbed into his shoulder that evening as he grieved over the end of an intense friendship.

* * *

“‘An intense friendship?’ That’s what you thought it was?!”

Saeko’s face is flushed from forehead to neck. She’s five beers in with no sign of slowing down. Akiteru sighes, knowing she’ll have to spend the night at his apartment again. And not even for fun reasons.

“I know! It’s stupid. But at the time, it was too hard to accept. It was easier to think they were just teenage boys experimenting. Misplaced emotions.”

“So did you think Shoyo turned Kei gay?”

“Not so loud!”

  
“But that’s what you thought, right? When Kei first came out?” Saeko asks with a quirk of her eyebrows. 

“Yeah,” Akiteru admits guiltily. He wasn’t always the best big brother, but he’s been trying so hard since Kei discovered his lie about being on the volleyball team in high school. He knows the story he relayed to Saeko is just another one of his failures in being a better brother for Kei.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself!” she scolds, giving him a hard punch on the shoulder.

“You know better now! And you came to accept Kei as he is. That’s called growth!”

Akiteru smiles. It’s been a long and hard road; when Kei first came out, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Their father made his disappointment clear and their mother had struggled with being supportive while maintaining family unity. Akiteru himself had tried to shut down Kei out of a desire to maintain familial status quo. 

When Saeko had learned about his family drama, she was quick to slap some sense into him. Saeko had always been an open-minded person and outspoken to boot. She was the one who got Akiteru and Kei back on speaking terms after that, and he’s been thankful ever since. Sometimes he needs a nudge in the right direction and Saeko is always there to guide him, even if it’s a bit forceful.

“Oh! Shoyo is returning to Japan soon!” Saeko grins as she shoves her phone in Akiteru’s face.

“Think Kei might want a reunion?”

“I don’t know. He’s not really one to want to reconnect with exes…”

“But they were teammates first and foremost! I’m sure that must cancel some things out.”

“It sounds more like  _ you _ want to get them back together,” Akiteru says with a grin of his own.

“Maybe,” she says as she types on her phone, her grin growing wider with each tap of her fingers. 

Akiteru smiles fondly. He wonders if Shoyo would be the kind of person who would drag Kei out of his shell again. 

“I’m sure Ryu would love to have Shoyo as a brother-in-law!”

“Slow down there… First of all, Shoyo and Kei aren’t even dating…”

“Yet!” Saeko adds with a grin.

“Secondly,  _ we’re  _ not married.”

“Yet!” Saeko repeats. “Don’t worry, I bought the ring already.”

“Ha ha, very funny dear… You’re joking, right Sae-chan? Sae-chan? Saeko?!”

He reaches for her phone and they squabble over it for a bit. Akiteru just hopes that Saeko’s text won’t go out to the intended recipient.

* * *

_ [Saeko-nee-chan]: Yo Shoyo! I hear you’re coming back soon. How about joining me and a few friends to catch up over drinks? _

**Author's Note:**

> I was really worried about my depiction of Akiteru, but I think I hit a good balance in the end. He's not meant to be a bad guy, just misguided. I hope that's how he comes across to readers too.
> 
> I plan to upload my other words for the missed Tsukihina days, but those will definitely be later. Life got in the way ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
